London, June 18, 2026, 11:09 BST
- LSEG shares were last quoted between 8,644 and 8,648 pence, off 3.57%. That puts the group’s market value near £42.1 billion.
- Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped its rating on LSEG to “neutral” from “buy” and lowered the target price to £104 from £120.
- FTSE 100 dropped 0.94% before the Bank of England’s rate call. LSEG was down much more.
London Stock Exchange Group shares slid 3.6% Thursday after Rothschild & Co Redburn cautioned that AI could pressure the company’s workflow and aggregation operations. The stock was last seen near 8,646 pence, after hitting a low of 8,584 pence earlier in the session.
Redburn cut LSEG to “neutral” from “buy” and cut its target to £104 from £120, reigniting questions about whether AI is going to drive more demand for the group’s proprietary data or let clients skip its platforms and software. Debate on that had cooled before the downgrade. Investing
LSEG’s real-time data, index business and post-trade infrastructure are still “well protected,” according to the broker. But other parts—like terminals, various workflows and most non-real-time data—are more at risk from AI tools and APIs offering cheaper, modular access, it said. Redburn’s base case sees about 30% of group EBITDA open to downside risk. Investing
LSEG shares dropped 9.7% on February 3. The move followed a new Anthropic product release that sparked selling across software and financial-data names. Around 61% of LSEG’s revenue is tied to data-related units, Morningstar analyst Niklas Kammer said.
LSEG’s latest update showed a 9.8% rise in first-quarter income, excluding recoveries. Markets revenue jumped 15.5%, while subscription units grew 6.3%. Over 150 customers were using or setting up access to its Model Context Protocol server, which gives authorised AI systems entry to licensed LSEG data. “Our focus through 2026 will be on roll-out and adoption of these services,” CEO David Schwimmer said. LSEG
Will Howlett, financials analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said “the headline beat is driven by Markets,” as trading picked up in volatile conditions. He noted that subscription growth sped up from 5.4% last quarter. That suggested gains weren’t just from more trading revenue. Quilter
LSEG’s valuation tells the story. The stock traded near 18 times expected earnings for the coming year, about 30% cheaper than Moody’s and 40% below MSCI, but still higher than FactSet. UBS analyst Michael Werner called it a “show me” situation: “It’s one thing to have usage, it’s another to start charging people.” Reuters
Elliott Management is also pushing LSEG for more visible returns. The activist took a stake earlier this year and pressed the company to boost performance, raise buybacks, and close its margin gap versus competitors. LSEG has started a £3 billion buyback plan.
But risks linger. AI could push down prices for some data and workflow products before LSEG finds enough fresh revenue to make up for it. Markets income is running high, but that could fall if volatility slows. And in July, the Financial Conduct Authority plans to rule on a consolidated equities tape, creating one stream of trading data from several platforms. That might cut into the value of data LSEG sells now. The company has not put a number on the potential hit to revenue.
